By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
KEIZER, Ore.– The McNary baseball team just kept pushing. They kept working towards the goal of completing the Central Valley Conference sweep of West Salem on Friday evening at McNary High School.
They started slow. Allowing the Titans to score four runs in the opening two innings that put them, the Celtics, in a 4-3 hole going into the bottom of the second inning.
But. They responded.
Holtohn Ritchey tied the game up at four thanks to an RBI Triple in the bottom half of the fourth inning, driving home Isaac Bailey in the process. West Salem pulled back ahead, leading 6-4 before McNary ripped off three runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning.
Two of those runs came way of Starting Pitcher JT Vachter that tied the game up at six before Xaiver Gonzalez brought in the then go-ahead run in the next at-bat.
“Tyler (San) said right before I hit that double. Like, ‘Me and Cam (Sajovic) are going to get on and you’re going to tie the game’. He called it like he knew it was going to happen. Everyone believed in me in that moment and we believed in each other throughout the whole game,” said Vachter.
Vachter went the distance on the mound, steadying McNary through a game that turned into a rollercoaster. He and the Celtics watched West Salem pull even at 7–7 in the top of the sixth, but limited the damage to a single run. That restraint gave McNary an opening in the bottom half of the inning, and they capitalized, reclaiming the lead on a sacrifice fly by Sajovic.
That Sac Fly was crucial coming down the stretch. Sure, it ultimately became the game-winning run by game’s end, but not without some pressure put on by the Titans.
West Salem put a runner on with one out when David Gier singled. He advanced to second on a groundout by Tommy Kenny and moved to third on a Vachter error. Moments earlier, Vachter had attempted a pickoff move to keep Gier close, but the throw sailed off target.
With the tying run on third and faced with a 2-0 count, Vachter went to work. He got strike one thanks to a foul ball, even the count 2-2 on the next pitch. Vachter got strike three, but they had to complete the play at first after the strike was dropped.
They completed the play to end the game, and got their first league sweep since 2024 as they closed out the 8-7 victory on Friday.
“It felt great showing them how we have changed and how we are better,” said Vachter. “Once we realized that…this team is not terrible. We all just stayed in and kept going and pushed through to get that win and get that sweep.”
Vachter struck out six batters in his Complete Game effort, drove in two runs and had two hits in the win. Gonzalez also drove in two runs with two hits. San and Sajovic each had two hits to lead a Celtic offense that collected ten hits.Gier led the Titans with two hits and Landon Ballweber struck out four batters in his four-and-a-third innings of work for West Salem.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
